Birds and Planes
by frosty wonder ice
Summary: Silly Taito. OOC on Yamato's part, but it fits with the fic.
1. My Odd Son

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Digimon, so step off already!

This fic is entirely for fun to relieve me of the stress of writing two of my other fics. It actually came by way of my dreams! There are no official couples, but I might turn this into romance. If you read on, you'll see what two couples I might choose. Don't forget to review!

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_I'm not feeling all right today_

_I'm not feeling that great_

_I'm not catching on fire today_

_Love has started to fade_

_I'm not going to smile today_

_I'm not gonna laugh_

_You're out living it up today_

_I've got dues to pay_

Yamato quietly eased his way to the front door, hoping his dad – who was most likely standing in the kitchen bewildered – would not hear him. He slipped his shoes on with ease, grabbing his green school jacket off the hook and his bag from its place on the floor. He paused to make sure his father was still in the kitchen before reaching for the door handle. The hinges on the door squeaked as he opened it and in a flash his father was around the corner. Yamato smiled at him and dashed out the door towards the elevator.

"Yamato! Get back here!" his father roared after him. He made it to the elevator and hit the ground level button, waving goodbye to his father with a winning grin as the elevator doors closed. When he made it to the first floor and got off, his father was leaning against the railing above – apparently having gone back inside to get a robe on – glaring angrily down at him. "You're dead meat you worthless child!"

"I'll see you tomorrow dad!" Yamato laughed and walked on towards his school. He already had things figured that he should spend the night with Taichi if he wished to keep his life a day longer.

The day had begun rather amusedly for him, plastering a wide smile on his face. He felt like skipping, but being of the age he was, he knew better than that. _Frith, I'm acting like Tai!_ The thought made Yamato laugh, which got him a few odd stares from other passerby's and smiles from the shopkeepers who saw him everyday on his way to school. Sometimes the donut man – Yamato not knowing his real name – would give him all the extras and he took them with him to give to Taichi, the boy being a bottomless pit that would do anything for more food – much to Yamato's advantage. However, today that was not the case. Instead, the donut man pulled him off to the side, grinning like a mad man.

"What? You're starting to scare me with that smile of yours," Yamato said.

The donut man quickly hushed him and pointed at the crowd moving past. "See her?"

Yamato looked around. "Uh… be a bit more specific. I see about ten hers and they keep changing as more come and go."

"No, no! Not those! The one sitting on the bench over there, see?" The donut man pointed again, a bit more urgent this time. Yamato followed his gaze to where the bus stop was. On the bench was a crying girl. At first Yamato was about to ask what the big deal was, but then he recognized the girl.

"Hey, I know her. That's Sora; I haven't seen her in a while," he said, watching as she wiped some tears away. "I wonder what she's doing over here. I thought she lived near Tai."

"She met her boyfriend down here and he broke up with her," the donut man replied, smiling brightly at Yamato and raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Yamato instantly recognized _that_ look. "No. No. And… no. Let me say it one more time: no."

"Why not?" the donut man huffed. "She's in a time of need, she's pretty, and you know her. What more could you ask for?"

"But she's my friend!" Yamato laughed. "It'd be too weird."

The donut man didn't appear pleased, but nodded with a sigh. "At least go talk to her. If you're her friend, you should comfort her."

Reluctantly, Yamato made his way across the street to the bus stop. He didn't really know what he was going to say to someone that he only saw in the hallway every now and then, especially when that someone's boyfriend just broke up with her. Sighing, Yamato ran a hand through his hair and sat down beside Sora. She didn't even look at him, probably thinking he was someone who was simply waiting for the bus.

"So… haven't talked to you in a while…" Yamato started lamely. Sora peeked from behind her hands at him.

"Hey," she said flatly. "What are you… oh yeah, you live down this way don't you?"

"Yeah." Yamato felt stupid. What was he supposed to say? He hadn't really talked to Sora in over four years. "Okay…"

"Listen, Yamato, you don't have to talk to me just because I'm crying. You're probably already late for school," Sora interrupted. She sat up and wiped away the rest of her tears, faking a smile.

"No, it's fine. Besides, you see that round little man over there? If I leave without you he'll be upset. He's got it in his head that we'd be a cute couple," Yamato explained.

This made Sora laugh a little. "Did you tell him we hardly know each other anymore?"

"Yeah, but he listens about as much as Tai ever did, or does," he said, smiling as Sora laughed a bit more. He leaned back, stretching, and looked at the white clouds in the sky. "But you're right about being late. Not that it matters to me. I don't care at all."

"I do."

Yamato made a choking noise and he shot up straight at the sound of his father's voice above him. He smiled sheepishly at his dad's death glare and scooted Sora off the bench, pushing her in the direction of their school. "We'd better get going anyhow."

"Not so fast," his dad growled and grabbed his jacket collar, jerking him back. "If you don't care to go to school, then why not stay home and clean up that mess in the kitchen, hm?"

"It's not a mess!" Yamato protested, wriggling to get away from his dad. "I think it looks…"

"Like a mess!" his dad interrupted. "Now get your ass home, or must I drag you there?"

Mr. Ishida swung him in the direction of their apartment and pushed him that way. Yamato gave him a frown but headed in the direction anyway, only pausing to give Sora a smile before walking on. He sighed, seeing his apartment building not too far ahead of him. Well, so much for that Physics test, not that he was going to pass it, but at least he would have had a 30 instead of a 0. _I guess this means I can stay in my nightclothes all day_! He thought cheerfully.

He chose going up the stairs for once instead of the elevator. As much as the relaxation of staying in pajamas all day appealed to him, he did not want to clean up the kitchen. It wasn't his fault! Okay, maybe it was, but still! If his father would buy him sleeping pills he wouldn't have his problem, but nooooo. Mr. Ishida had something against taking sleeping medicine. Yamato took a pill at Taichi's once and when he told his dad, he went crazy – screaming things about how Yamato would never go to Taichi's again. Of course that didn't last long.

Yamato hopped up the stairs, skipping every other one. He finally made it to his floor right as his neighbor was leaving her apartment. She smiled at Yamato.

"What did you do this time?" she asked.

"Nothing much. Just a little popcorn and cranberry strings strewn across the kitchen and my dad flipped, as usual," Yamato replied brightly.

She laughed and shook her head. "One of these days you're going to get yourself in more trouble than you can handle."

"Nonsense!" Yamato laughed and pulled out his keys. He waved goodbye to her before unlocking his door and stepping inside. The first place he went to was the kitchen, and he looked into the room a tad bit proud. Who else can make such wonderful decorations and hang them so perfectly across the kitchen at three in the morning?

--

_And the gravedigger puts on the forceps_

_The stonemason does all the work_

_The barber can give you a haircut_

_The carpenter can take you out to lunch_

_Now, I just want to play on my panpipes_

_I just want to drink me some wine_

_As soon as you're born you start dyin_

_So you might as well have a good time_

Yamato was cleaning his room when the doorbell rang through the apartment. He dropped the items he had in his hand, turned off his radio, and made his way to the front. He'd spent most of he day cleaning the apartment, having gotten bored watching morning cartoons that were meant for children. Despite his continuous cleaning throughout the day, he still had a great amount of energy and was hoping it was Taichi who was at his door.

He had a good feeling it was a swung the door open, mouth open and ready to invite his friend in. However, it was not Taichi standing at the door, but rather a girl. He closed the door as quickly as he opened it, being embarrassed that this girl saw him in his plaid pajama pants and baggy Smash Mouth shirt. He looked through the peek hole to see that the girl was Sora, and sighed with relief. At least it wasn't another one of those damn social workers.

"Sora?" Yamato said through the door.

"Uh… Yes?"

"I'm sorry I slammed the door in your face. I thought you were Taichi… Anyway, let me get dressed, okay?"

"Okay…"

Yamato quickly went back into his room and changed, not wanting to make her wait for too long. He simply slipped back into his school uniform since it was already out, discounting the green jacket, that is. As he finished buttoning the last button, he opened the door, planting a smile on his face.

"Sorry. I don't normally get house calls from anyone but Taichi and my brother," he said, subconsciously running a hand through his hair. "Want to come in?"

"Sure, I guess," Sora replied and stepped in as he closed the door. "I'm sorry to come by so unexpected, but after this morning I felt we needed to talk… catch up, you know?"

"Yeah, I get what you mean. And Taichi will be here in about… oh, maybe five, possibly ten minutes. Yamato looked at his watch as he approximated the time it would take Taichi to run home, drop off his stuff, grab a snack, and run to his apartment.

"You invited him over already?" Sora asked.

"No, but he usually shows up when I don't make an appearance at school," Yamato laughed. "Always worried I could have tripped down the stairs, or the elevator broke with me in it, or something stupid like that."

"Wow, you two really became good friends after all the digital world happenings. I thought you'd be enemies forever!" Sora said.

The doorbell interrupted whatever Yamato was about to say. He looked towards the door, and then at Sora with a smile. "I bet that's him."

Sora watched from down the hallway as Yamato opened the door and a big, brown fuzz launched through the doorway, tackling Yamato to the ground.

"Yama!" it cried. "Where were you?"

"Ah, Tai, get off," Yamato laughed. "You crushing my spleen!"

"Your what?" Taichi asked, sitting up.

"Just get off!" Yamato flipped him to the side and sat up, pushing the door closed with his foot. It was then that Taichi noticed Sora standing and watching. He blinked at her for a moment before the realization struck, and then he was off the floor in a flash with her scooped into a hug.

"Sora! I haven't seen you in forever!" Taichi exclaimed. He swung her around in the air in a circle as Yamato stood up. "How've you been?"

"Fine… I guess…" Sora replied dizzily. She managed to detach Taichi from her and put both feet back onto the ground, the way she liked it.

Taichi looked back and forth between Sora and Yamato, his smile getting wider and wider. "Are you two…?"

"No. Sora just got to witness my dad and I this morning and thought she'd drop by to see how's it been. You know, since we're all going different ways now," Yamato explained.

"Oh." Taichi looked disappointed at first, his smile faltering a little, but he remained his perky self. "So, what did you do this time, Yama? Write on the walls with shaving cream?"

Yamato gave him a flat look. "No. I decorated the kitchen with popcorn and cranberry strings."

"Sometimes I wonder about you," Taichi said with a shake of his head. "Here you are supposed to be the cool collected one."

--

It wasn't until late that evening that Mr. Ishida returned home, almost dreading what he'd find there. He had four bags of ice, two in each hand, and also the idea of how to correct his son's craziness. It amazed him how someone acted calm and normal in public could act like a hooligan in the privacy of his home.  Especially at three in the morning! He was getting tired of scraping paint off the tables, washing syrup off the couch, pulling clothes off the fan, etc. One child could cause so much destruction that it was simply amazing.

He wasn't startled to hear loud voices coming from behind the door to his apartment. More than likely Taichi was over, and possibly even Takeru – whom he wished at times he had instead of Yamato. He set two of the bags of ice by the door as he unlocked it and then moved inside. He was busy taking off his shoes and coat when he heard a voice he didn't normally hear. Freezing, he listened carefully, identifying the voice as _not_ male. This worried him a bit.

Leaving the ice in the front hallway, he cautiously walked to where the voices were coming from, which was the kitchen. Sitting at the table with Yamato was a girl. Not only a girl, but a blushing girl who was shyly looking away from Yamato. And sitting on the counter was a laughing Taichi. Mr. Ishida briefly locked eyes with his son.

"Yamato, why don't you escort your two _friends_ down stairs while I start dinner," he said, trying to keep the darkness out of his voice.

"Sure dad…" Yamato said uneasily. He didn't see the point of having to walk people down stairs. To the door maybe, but down all that way? "Let's go."

The three of them left the kitchen and slipped into their shoes. Sora grabbed her stuff, having not gone home before arriving at Yamato's and they left the apartment. They picked going down the stairs to lengthen the time in which they could finish catching up. On the last flight, Taichi and Yamato agreed to meet the next day, as it was a Saturday, for lunch at a small café down the street that was about half way between them. Sora wished Yamato a goodbye before walking off with Taichi since she lived down the same way he did. Yamato went back up the elevator.

When he re-entered his apartment, it was dark. All of the lights were off except for the bathroom light, making him feel uncomfortable. He sat down on the floor and pulled off his shoes. As he was doing such, he felt strong arms wrap around his middle and lift him into the air.

"Hey!" he cried out. "What's the deal?"

"Stop kicking!" his dad's rough voice snapped. Yamato did as told and his dad carried him into the bathroom. His eyes widened as he saw the bathtub filled with ice and a little bit of water and he started to fight again, but his dad was much stronger than him and in a moment he was dropped into the cold tub.

"Ahh!" Yamato tried to jump out, but was shoved back in. His dad scooped up some of the ice water in a pitcher and dumped it over his head. He wrapped his arms around his body and shivered, teeth chattering.

"Okay," his dad started. "Rule One: Girls are not allowed in the apartment unless I'm home, and only then are they allowed in the kitchen if I'm in the kitchen. If I have to leave the kitchen, she has to leave the apartment. Even if it is to use the restroom. She'll just have to wait outside while I do, and I don't particularly feel like listening to whatever conversation you two have, so don't expect to have a girl over often."

"W-h-hyyy n-n-noott?" Yamato asked, shaking from the cold.

"Because I know what you'll be trying to do behind closed doors," his dad snapped. "That wont be happening."

Yamato, being the naïve person he was, had to think a while before understanding what his dad meant. "Hey! I'm not like that at all!"

"Yeah right. You're seventeen and a rock star. I know how you louts think. Going on, Rule Two: You can NOT have a cat, so stop asking!" his dad exclaimed, dumping another pitcher of ice water over his head.

"But you have a dog!" This protest promptly got Yamato dunked into the ice water. He spluttered and shivered some more, sure that by now his lips were turning blue.

"I have a dog because I'm the one in charge of this apartment, and the dog is like the son that unfortunately does not live with me! Scruffy obeys, unlike you." His dad dunked him under the water and ice again for good measure. "Rule Three: You will do nothing to the apartment in the middle of the night. I don't care what you do in your own room, as long as it does not wake me up, but the rest of the apartment is off limits!  I'm tired of being afraid to wake up! Why don't you just write lyrics for a new song, or finish homework, or something! Stop screwing up the apartment!"

Again he was dunked under the water and had another pitcher poured over his head when he came back up. "I do do that! But that gets boring! I can't help it. If you'd get me something to help me sleep…"

"What **you** need is psychiatric help!" Yet another dunk under the water. "Now, if any of these rules are broken, I will take a pair of scissors to your hair and I will cut it so badly that you'll have to shave your head in order to fix it!"

Yamato's hands flew to his hair and a look of horror spread across his face. "You can't!"

"I can do whatever I want while you are under my roof!" Mr. Ishida growled. He once more dunked his son under the water. When Yamato came back up, he grabbed him by the shoulders and made looked him straight in the eyes. "Do you understand the rules?"

"Yes," Yamato muttered weakly.

Mr. Ishida smiled. "Good. Now get into something dry."

_Sheep go to heaven_

_Goats go to hell_

_Sheep go to heaven_

_Goats go to hell_

*  *  *

Poor Yama! Muawahahaha! He has a sleeping problem. Okay, I don't know if I'm going to put romance in this fic or not. If I do, I'll either make it Taito or Sorato, whichever mood I'm in. I wrote this first chapter in one hour, so that's why it seems rushed. If I do continue on this fic, then most of the chapters will be short like this. I might not even continue. This may be it! It depends on the reviews! Also, this goes under Raindrops and Point Blank, so it may be a while before I write more on it. Anyway, review!


	2. Venus and Palmolive

This chapter is two years after the first chapter. This fic is still completely silliness, and later on in the chapter it is completely goofy. The votes were counted and Taito beat Sorato by a long shot, so in the next chapter, we'll actually start working on the romantic stuff, right? =)

*  *  *

_I just woke up_

_Coffee in my cup_

_Such a warm and sunny day_

_Find out what the papers say_

"I got you something, kind of as a going away present."

Yamato looked at his dad is surprise. _He got me something_? At first he eyed his dad warily, knowing full well that the previously said sentence didn't sound right. His father smiled at the cautious look Yamato was giving him. He walked to the elevator, Yamato's eyes following him closely and uneasily.

"Wait here. I left it in the apartment," Mr. Ishida said, grinning wider as Yamato startled into more surprise that this wasn't a joke.

The elevator doors closed with a 'bing' and started to whir as it moved up. Yamato was still frozen by the open car, stuffed full of boxes and the like that were packed with his clothes and things. He blinked at the elevator doors, half expecting his dad to jump out and shout, 'Ha! Fooled ya didn't I?' but… that didn't happen. He finally started to breath again, though it was shakily and he moved from his spot to close a car door.

When he heard the 'bing' of the elevator again, he spun around and stared. The doors opened and his father stepped out, holding a big, wrapped box, with a wrapped lid placed neatly on top. He was grinning like a mad man and Yamato shied away as he approached the car. The wrapped box was placed on the back of one side of the car and pushed to Yamato on the other side. Yamato eyed the box, then his father, then the box, then his father, and then the box again. He hesitantly reached out to touch it, but withdrew his hand and shot backwards when the box moved a bit.

Mr. Ishida laughed at the actions of his son. "Go on. It doesn't bite, I promise."

"That's reassuring to know," Yamato mumbled and eased himself to the box. He uncertainly reached out again and tentatively lifted the lid. Once more he shot backwards, the lid falling to the ground, as something bounced out at him. He flattened himself against the wall and stared at the wiggling, black and white animal yipping at him. As his heart slowed down, he turned his gaze to his father. "You. Got. Me. A. Dog."

Another evil grin went across Mr. Ishida's face. "I thought you'd like her. I was walking through the mall the other day thinking of what I could get you – since after all you're leaving and thus rescuing me from having to suffer the stress of your college inks – when I came across a pet store with this little girl bouncing in the window. And I thought, 'That is exactly what Yamato needs'."

"I hate dogs," Yamato said coldly, still pressed against the wall and watching the dog sniff the edge of the box.

Mr. Ishida put his hands on either side of the dog's head, covering its ears. "Shh, don't say that in front of her. You'll hurt her feelings."

"I can't believe you got me a dog," Yamato whined softly. He gently pushed of the wall and walked to the bouncing, wire-haired schnauzer. It yipped playfully at him, obviously young, and jumped on the edge of the box trying to touch him. Yamato reached out and pet the dog's head, all the while glaring at his father. "You are such a jerk. You know I'm a cat person."

"You are such a jerk. You know I don't like cleaning up gram cracker cities that occupy my entire kitchen with easy-cheese roads and rivers," his dad replied as counter attack. They looked at each other, meeting the other's eyes briefly, and looked away. "Okay, so grab your dog and get in the car. The faster I get out you to the apartment the faster I wont have to ever see you again."

Yamato mumbled something under his breath, but picked up the box the dog was in and lifted it from the back of the car. The sudden movement made the little schnauzer fall to the side of the box heavily. It looked at Yamato with big eyes and opened its mouth to let its tongue hang out as it panted. Yamato frowned in disgust and chose to look elsewhere than the dog as he entered the car. He placed the box at his feet on the floorboard and closed the car door. As he was trying to buckle up, the dog jumped out of the box into his lap and tried to lick his face. Yamato gave a squeak of surprise and pushed it back down, hurriedly buckling before it could leap again.

The whole way to his new home, Yamato had to fight the little dog off of him. He glared at his father constantly for the unwelcome surprise, but only got an amused smirk as a response. He scowled and stared out the window as best he could without the dog licking his face. Even though the apartment complex Yamato would be staying at was only a few blocks down the street it seemed forever before they got there. Yamato was out of his seat and the car within a matter of seconds after it stopped.

"Hey!"

Yamato looked up and smiled for the first time that morning. He waved at Taichi and Hikari running towards them. Taichi flipped him up and spun him around in the air, setting him on the car hood.

"Yama! I was wondering how long it was going to take you to get here. The rest of us already have our stuff unpacked, even Sora, and she brought _a lot_," Taichi chirped.

They heard a car door slam as Mr. Ishida got out. "Sora? As in a _girl_? Oh well, wont be my problem when she gets pregnant. I guess I'll have to let you ruin your own life."

With a roll of his eyes, Yamato turned back around to face Taichi, as he had turned when his father started speaking. "My dad's got it in his head that I'm some slut just because I'm in a rock band and I'm nearly nineteen."

"Oh, how funny," Taichi laughed. He helped Yamato slide off the car bonnet and it was at this moment he noticed the bouncing animal at his side. He stared at it blankly and gave Yamato a confused look. "A dog? _You_ brought a _dog_?"

"I'll tell you later," Yamato mumbled with a wave of his hand. The two of them, with Hikari's help, began to unpack the car. Mr. Ishida leaned against the side of the building smoking a cigarette and watching them.

Taichi and Yamato had decided that for college they would get their own apartment. They were going to one not too far from their homes, and it would be perfectly fine if they'd stayed at home, but the idea of being out on their own appealed to them. Sora, who had become a good friend in the past two years, agreed to share the apartment with them since she too wanted to get away from her parents. Kari was still in high school, but the apartment Taichi and his friends were staying at was closer than where she was living. That, and the fact that Yamato and Sora were going to be there was cool, since she thought Yamato was very good looking and Sora had always been a person she looked up to.

Mr. Ishida was just happy to get his odd son out of the house.

"Okay, dad, I've got everything out. You can go now," Yamato called, checking the car one last time just to make sure he was correct in saying that. "I guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah. I guess. I hope Taichi and Sora have locks on those cabinets and restraints on the bed to keep you from driving them crazy at night. Heaven knows you're a lunatic," Mr. Ishida muttered. He flicked his cigarette on the ground and smashed it in with his foot before walking to Yamato beside the car. They stared at each other flatly. Lastly, Mr. Ishida pulled Yamato into a tight hug.

"I'll miss you, too, dad," Yamato whispered. For a little while in time, there was a peace between the two. Of course, all good things come to an end and Yamato had to draw back. His father gave him an affectionate kiss on the forehead, got in his car, and left.

Yamato smiled. "I think I won."

_Free, limo ride_

_Free food inside_

_Grabbed my briefcase, left my house_

_Got a meeting with the mouse_

_Flying first class_

*  *  *

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Yamato looked up from his spot on the bathroom floor at Taichi standing in the doorway. He froze, his hand in mid-motion of sewing toilet paper to one of the towels – the towel already having been sewn to the shower curtain and the shower curtain with elaborately cut out shapes on it. So there Yamato was, sitting in the middle of the floor with needle, toilet paper, and towel in hand, and thread nearby, with scissors still resting on the bathroom counter. 

"Um… good morning Taichi…" Yamato said uneasily. He placed the objects occupying his hands on the floor, but otherwise stayed put.

"Yamato, it's three thirty in the morning! What are you doing?" Taichi demanded.

"I… well… I was bored…" Yamato stammered. It was one thing that his dad caught him doing absurd things in the middle of the night, but he wasn't living with his dad anymore.

"You were _bored_?" Taichi scowled. "Why didn't you watch television or eat, or take a freaking sleeping pill!"

Yamato flushed bright red. "I guess I didn't think about that…"

"You guess?!" Taichi slapped a hand to his forehead. "Oh, damn, Yamato. You're not living with your dad anymore. You have to curve this weird habit of yours somehow. I'll tie you to the bed if it'll keep you from doing crazy things at this hour. Go sit on the couch and wait for me. _Now_!"

Yamato jumped to his feet and scurried out of the bathroom. He winced as he heard the bathroom door slam behind him, and slumped onto the couch. _Way to go, Yamato_. He thought to himself. _Can't you be normal for once_?

A minute later, he heard the toilet flush and the bathroom door open again. Taichi walked over to the couch and sat down in front of Yamato, glaring the whole time. "This is the first and last time I'm going to say this: if you _ever_ wake up and need something to do, then either bake some cookies, watch the television, or clean, but **do not** ruin this apartment! Sora is going to be so ticked when she wakes up!"

Yamato fidgeted. "I'm sorry… I… I'll cook something for you and the others next time… okay?"

"I don't care. Just as long as you don't ruin this place," Taichi muttered. He got to his feet and pulled Yamato up. "We're going to go back to sleep, and tomorrow morning you're going to apologize to Sora and Kari, and clean up all that. Understand?"

"Okay," Yamato sighed. "I understand."

The two of them headed back to their bedroom, Yamato in front because Taichi was trying to conceal his smile.

*  *  *

Sora and Kari stood in wonder in the bathroom doorway, one holding Yamato's dog in her arms. They looked at each other, then at the frowning blonde pulling the thread from the towel and shower curtain. Yamato glanced at them, but quickly averted his gaze and blushed. Taichi was leaning against the bathroom counter with his arms crossed and giving Yamato a very dirty look.

"I…uh, I'm sorry, Sora… Kari," Yamato mumbled. "I got a little bored last night."

"A little?" Kari appalled. "When someone is a little bored he colors in a coloring book. You must have been bored crazy!"

"She's right, Yamato! This is… scary! I knew you tended to do weird things when you were alone, but this is just too extreme! You ruined the shower curtain!" Sora exclaimed.

"I'll buy a new one," Taichi sighed. He checked his watch and gave Yamato a stern look. "We have astronomy class in an hour. You can take a break for now to get ready, but when we come back, you'd better fix the rest of this up, got it?"

Yamato nodded quickly. "Yes."

Sora shook her head disapprovingly and set Roofus – the name she'd given Yamato's dog – on the ground. "Well, I have to go to Language now. I'll see you two later. Kari, am I still giving you a ride?"

"…Yeah…" Kari was still scanning the bathroom with wide eyes.

They grabbed their bags and made their way out of the apartment. 

*  *  *

"Honey! I'm home!"

The voice that rang through the apartment was not one of a human's. It was shrill and almost whistle-like. Yamato knew this very well by now, it having been a few weeks since they'd all moved into the apartment – and he was still trying to curve his habit like Taichi told him to. He leaned out of the bedroom to look at Taichi stroking Sora's green and blue parakeet's feathers. Taichi had taught it to announce his arrival when he entered the room.

"Hey Taichi, do you know where my voice recorder is?" Yamato called, slipping back into the bedroom to continue his search.

"I thought it was on your dresser?" Taichi yelled back.

Yamato straightened and looked on top of his dresser, and – seeing the object in question there – looked at the now messy room with clothes and all other sorts of things thrown everywhere. He frowned and quickly started cleaning things up, noticing – with annoyance – that Kari's cat was smirking at him from her spot on the bed. "Oh shut up," he mumbled. "I just didn't think to look there is all."

"Did you find it?" Taichi asked, still – thankfully – in the other room.

"Yes! Thank you!" Yamato shouted over his shoulder as he dumped dirty clothes back into the laundry basket. He had to clean this up quick if he didn't want Taichi to get angry. Actually, Yamato knew Taichi wasn't really angry with him all the time, but might as well let the ex-soccer player _think_ he had Yamato under his rein.

"Who were you talking to a moment ago?" Taichi could be heard from the kitchen now, most likely digging in the refrigerator.

Yamato paused in his cleaning, trying to think back on what he was talking about. "What?"

"Before I asked if you found your recorder – which, by the way, I have a question about _that_, too."

Again, Yamato tried to think what he was talking about. He looked to the cat on the bed. "What is he talking about?"

"There! You did it again! Do you have somebody in there with you?" Taichi teased.

"Ohh… No, I'm just talking to Venus," Yamato laughed. He heard Taichi snort in the kitchen and scowled. "Like you never talk to that dumb bird."

Taichi was very offended by this insult on both him and his – well, Sora's – bird. "That's different. I'm teaching Palmolive how to talk."

There was moment's silence between the two, and then Yamato muttered, "At least Venus isn't named after a dishwashing soap." He said a little louder for Taichi, "What was that second question you had for me?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. I was wondering why you have a recorder. It's not like you," Taichi appeared in the doorway, giving Yamato a disapproving frown at the mess, "take it to class with you."

"I'm cleaning it up. What? Don't look at me like that," Yamato snapped. He rolled the shirt up that he was supposed to be folding and threw it at Taichi. "I have a recorder because sometimes when I'm doing something, such as cleaning, I get an idea for a song and I can just sit here and sing away, but when I go to put the lyrics down on paper, I can't remember the beat or the exact lyrics. So now when I feel a song coming, I can just turn on that recorder and listen to it later."

Taichi started to nod, but got a confused look on his face. "Um. Whatever. Just try to keep the room clean while I'm gone okay? I hope you don't have wild sex parties in here while I'm gone."

"You know it," Yamato scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"In fact, I was thinking up a way for you to use enough energy before going to sleep so you wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night, not that I don't love your cookies," Taichi said. Yamato stared at him, kind of looking… horrified. Taichi returned the look with a puzzled one, before it dawned on him. "Oh! Not like that!"

Yamato gave a sigh of relief. "Okay, I was starting to freak out. I mean, we were just talking about wild sex parties and then you said _that_."

"Well, I didn't mean it like that," Taichi answered, a bit nervously. "I was thinking more along the lines of club dancing… perhaps…?"

"Ugh! No way," Yamato now had a particularly disgusted look on his face.

"Why not?" Taichi folded his arms over his chest and gave Yamato his best anger-pout – he had been working on it for a while now.

Yamato was immune to the – what he called – 'pathetic stare'. "Because they play a bunch of really crappy songs."

Taichi blinked. "They play… _your_ songs…"

"I **know** that."

"Then what's the deal?" Taichi – though he often tried – could never figure out the odd ways of the human mind, at least not _Yamato's_ mind.

"Tai-chi," Yamato groaned. "Don't you get it? I don't like to listen to myself, and I don't like to listen to a bunch pop singers, or rap, or being crammed in a room with a bunch of people."

Taichi had been expecting that response and smiled. "That's why I found a place that plays your kind of music and isn't really crowded. You'll love it!"

"No, Tai, I wont," Yamato confirmed and stalked from the room with the laundry basket in his hands.

"Don't use that tone." Taichi shivered, and followed him out. "You always scare me when you use that tone. It makes me think you're going to turn on me again." Yamato rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "Are you coming with me and Sora tomorrow night?"

"Sora and I," Yamato corrected.

"Yeah. Anyway, are you coming or not?" Taichi dropped onto the couch and grabbed the remote.

"I didn't know you were going somewhere." The television was flipped on and Yamato could hear the sound of a cartoon as he gathered all the dirty clothes from the bathroom.

"We were planning on going to the soccer game over at the college."

Yamato stopped momentarily to think. Back when they were in high school, Yamato insisted he hated soccer – and all other sports – but Taichi wouldn't take 'no' for an answer and before long the sport just grew on him. He also kind of liked watching gymnastics now. How _did_ they bend like that? "I don't think I have anything to do, but I was kind of hoping to go home and steal my CDs back from my dad sometime this week."

"We can do that tonight night. Kari is having some of her friends over and I'd rather **not** be here when they show up. Maybe we can swing by your dad's and then go visit Jyou and Koushiro," Taichi suggested.

Yamato appeared at the end of the couch and dropped the basket of dirty clothes on Taichi's stomach. "Okay, that's fine with me, but it's your turn to do laundry."

_I'm so happy_

_Feeling snappy_

_My life is rosy' I'm feeling comfy cozy_

_Keeps getting better_

_Good times forever_

_And this is one great day_

*  *  *

"Actually, I thought you were going to the soccer game with us."

From his position atop the table where he was trying to replace a light bulb, Yamato could barely see Taichi's pout and thus didn't care. "Taichi, I can't. If I could, I would, but I volunteered to take Takeru and Daisuke to an art show, and after that's over with I'm going to buy a desk for the computer that is currently sitting on the floor of our bedroom."

Taichi rolled his eyes and dropped into one of the kitchen chairs. "You only volunteered because you didn't want to go to the game. Admit it."

Yamato stopped what he was doing and looked at Taichi flatly. "Fine. I did. I hate soccer with a passion." He rolled his eyes. "I don't hate soccer, you should know that by now."

"You wont even come to support the college?" Taichi whined.

"If they needed support, I would, but since they have about a hundred other people screaming them on, I don't see the point of wasting a perfectly good night that I could spend with my brother and his friend instead of you," Yamato replied casually, returning to the task of screwing in the new bulb.

"I love you, too, Yama-chan," Taichi muttered, and slumped in his chair.

Yamato sighed and jumped off the table. He tossed the old light bulb into the trashcan and leaned against the counter, facing Taichi with his arms folded. "Okay, what's the deal?"

"If you were at the soccer game, you'd be safe from fan girls," Taichi suggested.

"Oh please. Like I'm not going to be at an _art show_?" Yamato chided. "It's not like we're going to be in a highly populated area. Daisuke is one of the few people who knew about this thing, and probably the only one going. There aren't going to be any crazy fans."

With a sigh, Taichi stood up and walked to the kitchen doorway. He didn't turn back towards Yamato, only simply mumbled, "Yeah. Have fun," before leaving.

"Taichi…" Yamato called after him, but a moment later the front door slammed.

*  *  *

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty," Yamato called. In a flash Venus ran into the room and delighted at the sight of the red food dish – that Yamato had bought for her – filled with wet cat food of some sort. She eagerly waited on the floor as he leaned over to set it down, her little bell – Yamato having bought that for her too – on her shiny collar – Yamato _also_ buying that for her – jingling as she moved with the grace only in a way that a cat can move. Yamato pet her gently on the head and stood up straight to wash his hands.

"Honey, I'm home!" Palmolive squawked from his nearby perch.

Taichi stepped into the kitchen, smiling, and held out his finger for Palmolive to get on as he walked into the kitchen. "Hello Palmolive."

"Hello, hello, hello," Palmolive repeated.

"And hello to you, too, Yama," Taichi said.

"Hey Tai," Yamato replied. "How was your day of classes?"

"Ah, fine, I suppose. The French teacher is almost as crazy as you are." Taichi gave him a wink and set Palmolive back on her perch.

"Thanks," Yamato grinned and looked back down at Venus on the floor. She'd finished her midnight dinner and looked back up at him. He opened his arms and she happily leapt into them. Yamato lightly pet her and looked back at Taichi. "So… since we're both taking the Astronomy class, how was it?"

Taichi sighed. "Fine, I guess. It was pretty boring for me, but if you like that kind of stuff then it might be interesting. The only reason I'm taking it is because I need an extra class to keep my schedule perfect."

"Yeah… Do you know if we have any whipped cream?" Yamato asked.

"I think there is some… uh, no. We don't have any. At all. Absolutely no whipped cream. Why would we have that?" Taichi quickly moved back to beside Palmolive and once more held out his hand for her to climb on. It was his best attempt to avoid Yamato's eyes.

"Really? I could have sworn we had some…" Yamato sighed. "Oh well. Anyway, Venus and I are going to bed now. Don't get too loud. Oh yeah, that's one thing. Green Bird…"

"Palmolive," Taichi corrected.

"Palmolive," Yamato rolled his eyes, "squawks in the middle of the night and it bother Venus. Can you put her in her cage or something?"

Tai looked very insulted. "Can you put Mars…"

"Venus," Yamato corrected.

"Venus," Taichi rolled his eyes, "on a leash or something?"

Yamato looked very insulted. "Venus isn't a dog, Taichi. The bird has a cage of its own. Cats always have free run of the house except for the closets."

"And why should the cat have a free run of the house and not Palmolive? Palmolive looks better and is a lot cooler than your dumb _Venus_," Taichi snuffed.

Yamato rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, no _straight_ guy would name his bird _Palmolive_."

"Oh, but a _straight_ guy would name his cat _Venus_?"

Taichi and Yamato glared dangerously at each other, and it was during this that Sora decided to come in the kitchen for a glass of water before going back to sleep. She glanced at the two, rolling her eyes, and walked to the sink. Pulling a cup from the cupboard, she turned to the two, running her finger around the rim of the cup. They hadn't seem to notice her presence yet, or if they had, they didn't bother to show that they did, so she went ahead and spoke, figuring they could listen if they wanted. "How were you classes Taichi, and why are you up Yamato?"

"Fine."

"I was hungry."

One was holding the cat close to his chest, and the other had a bird on his shoulders. Sora could only imagine what had started this. She walked to Taichi, setting her cup on the counter, and grabbed the green bird off his shoulder. He instantly broke his stare with Yamato and cried out. He tried to grab it from her but she shoved the bird into its cage and locked it.

"Sora! Don't be so mean to Palmolive!" Taichi whined. He rushed to the cage and was about to open it, but Sora slammed the door shut on his hand and he withdrew it quickly with another cry.

"Palmolive can sleep in her cage tonight. After all, she _is_ a bird," Sora said, ignoring Taichi's sad look. She took Venus from Yamato's arms, making him give her a glare, but not arguing. "Venus and I are going to go to sleep now, and I suggest that you two do. You, Yamato, have early classes tomorrow."

With that, she left, forgetting her thirst, and leaving the two child-like  _boys_ to mutter things under their breath as they sulked to their room.

_I'm so happy_

_Feeling snappy_

_Will there be sorrow_

_When I wake up tomorrow?_

*  *  *

"All I ask for is a clean home! That's not a hard request!" Yamato shouted, stomping out of the bathroom with three wet towels in his hand. He tossed them at Sora and Taichi sitting on the couch. "Why can't you two clean up after yourself?"

"You're one to talk," Taichi snorted, never taking his eyes from the soccer game he was watching and referring back to the times when Yamato's habit was big nuisance.

Sora shrugged and continued reading her magazine, making Yamato throw his hands in the air and stomp back to the bathroom. The doorbell ran just then, making him growl profanities under his breath. If it was the neighbors complaining about the noise again… Yamato jerked the door open, glaring hard at the boy that stood on his doorstep. "What?"

"I was wondering if I could talk to Takeru," Daisuke said slowly. He'd never been victim of Yamato's anger, and definitely didn't want to start sometime soon.

"Takeru is not here," Yamato snapped, going to close the door.

"Wait!" came a voice behind him, and Takeru ran up, stopping him. "I'm here."

Yamato stared at Takeru before giving another frustrated cry. "And I like to know when my brother comes to visit!"

"Oh yeah," Taichi said, sounding bored. "Takeru's here, Yamato."

"Thanks Taichi." Yamato flipped him off promptly.

Daisuke was a bit confused and looked from the two curiously. "What's up with them?"

"Lover's quarrel," Takeru assured him.

Yamato gave him a dirty look. "Oh, go fornicate with Daisuke and get out of my way."

"Forni-what?" Daisuke asked, while Takeru blushed shades of red.

"For-ni-cate," Yamato replied slowly, sounding even more irritated than before.

"What does that mean?"

"Look it up Daisuke!" Taichi laughed.

Daisuke was now even more confused. "How do you spell it?"

"S-E-X," Sora offered, trying to be helpful in Daisuke's need for information.

"Se… Oh…" Daisuke looked at Takeru and then turned his head away, now blushing himself. "That's not funny Yamato."

"No it's not," Takeru agreed and ushered his friend into Kari and Sora's room where Kari was trying to work on her homework, which was hard with all the shouting going on in the apartment.

Yamato dropped onto the couch between Sora and Taichi still reading and watching the television.

"My life bites."

_Life, it ain't easy_

_It's so tough_

_It ain't easy_

_Put a smile on your face_

_Make the world a better place_


	3. Beautiful Day (Or Night)

To clear some confusion in the last chapter, Takeru and Daisuke are **not** an item. Yamato was just being snappy. AND YAMATO'S DAD DOES **NOT** HATE HIM!! Sorry it took me so long to get this out, but hey – this is the ending!

*  *  *

_You're out of luck_

_And the reason that you had to care_

_The traffic is stuck_

_And you're not moving anywhere_

Yamato twisted one string around the other five with the grace of an expert craftsman. After running completely out of flour for four weeks in a row, Sora demanded that Yamato find something else to do at night than bake cookies; although, she _did_ love those little gingerbread ones. Carefully deliberating his choices, Yamato took up a hobby that Kari was often at work doing – when she was awake, that is – which was making friendship necklaces.

Lines of colored strings were spread across the table. Currently, Yamato was finishing one that was graced with the colors black, orange, and white. He didn't make these necklaces for himself. Kari was delighted to see that he could twist so easily and insisted he finish some of them up for her since she never had the time.

Of course, the finishing point never came as Kari constantly bombarded him with more requests and more string, but at least it was better than plastering the walls with old coloring book pages and having Taichi go out of his mind.

With a sigh, Yamato tied up the end of the necklace and looked at the clock on the wall. 1:00 AM. He groaned and ran his hands through his hair, slumping in his chair. Making string necklaces was a very boring task. It wasn't fair that Taichi got to take the night astronomy class _and_ the day one. Yamato would love more than anything to be able to sit outside and stare at the stars through a telescope instead of listening to a teacher drone forever inside a classroom with no windows.

It would be another hour and half before Taichi came in at 2:30. Yamato leaned forward and rested his chin in his hand, drumming his fingers on the table. What could he do till then?

Sora's car keys glistened at him from their place on the counter where she'd left them. A small smile spread across Yamato's features and he leaped out of his seat, causing it to fall backwards. He paused instantly, waiting to see if anyone heard. The house was silent except for Palmolive's little bell that she kept hitting with her beak.

Yamato moved quietly through the rest of the apartment after getting the keys. He grabbed his jacket, apartment keys, and slipped into his jack-flaps. Hopefully Sora wouldn't mind him taking her car for a little joy ride. Besides, would she rather have him use molasses to paint the walls with?

The night air was warm, but the wind made Yamato shiver and he pulled on his jacket as he skipped down the stairs. He never took the elevator now unless it was really cold, and he leapt off the stairs, skipping the last few. Sora's car had been fortunately parked close by, and he happily went to it.

The night astronomy class usually met at a homemade observatory a little ways outside of Tokyo. Maybe the professor would let Yamato sit in and watch. He'd be happy to simply sit and gaze at the sky. Taichi said the night professor was a lot nicer and funnier than the day one, which helped Yamato's enthusiasm level raise enough that he became giddy. It would take about fifteen minutes to get to the hill that overlooked the city, which was where the observatory was.

In no time, Yamato was pulling onto a gravel road, turning out his headlights so that he didn't disturb the class, and to make a surprise entrance. He pulled in beside some other cars, looking round for Taichi's. When he saw it, he figured he was at the right place and got out, again being very quiet. _I could be a cat burglar if I wanted to_. Yamato smiled at the thought as he sneaked through the shadows to where the class was looking through several telescopes.

The professor was talking with one of the students on one side and on the other Taichi was looking in a telescope every so often and recording something on a tablet. Someone was standing with Taichi, sharing the telescope, and she noticed Yamato as he snuck up behind Taichi. She smiled, recognizing him, and stayed quiet for Yamato's sake.

Taichi had headphones on and was wrapped in a blanket, so he heard nothing as his 'attacker' crept closer. He sat back in his chair and started to write something on his tablet when someone pulled his headphones off and stuck their cold hands over his eyes. He startled and pushed the hands away, spinning around to see whom it was behind him. "Yamato!"

Yamato smiled brightly. "I thought I'd come up and see what you lot did."

"Wonderful," Taichi said, light sarcasm. He sighed and sat back in the chair, continuing to write down his observations. "How'd you get here anyway?"

"I borrowed Sora's car."

"Yamato, you can't just borrow a person's car whenever you want to," Taichi scolded calmly, keeping most of his attention directed on what he was writing. After a moment or two he again looked through the telescope.

"So…" Yamato started, feeling bored already, and pulled a chair up next to Taichi. He waited for Taichi to answer, but when he realized Taichi wasn't going to bother to initiate a conversation. At least he was intent on doing his work, which was a stark contrast to his high school years. Yamato sighed and tried again. "What are you lot doing?"

The girl that had been sitting with Taichi, and had yet to move, grinned deviously to herself, mumbling quietly while eying Yamato from top to bottom, "Checking you out."

Taichi snapped his head up to look at her and Yamato instantly noted to not make eye contact with her later into the night. Taichi smiled lightly, giving Yamato a sideways glance after winking at the girl. "We're looking at the planets tonight. Want to take a peek?"

At the suggestion, Yamato's eyes lit up. "Yes!"

They switched chairs and Taichi fixed the telescope so Yamato could see Saturn, which had been one of Taichi's favorites. It seemed to Yamato that he was looking at a fake picture placed neatly at the end of a tunnel. The planet appeared light brown and it was frozen. All the same, Yamato was enthralled by it and he insisted Taichi fix the telescope on another planet. This time Taichi put it on Mars, and Yamato felt his giddiness return. He was making all kind of analogies about what he saw that Taichi wrote a few of them down for his observations.

After a little while, Taichi finally looked Yamato over, frowning at the pajama bottoms and oversized T-shirt. "Aren't you cold?"

"Huh?" was all Yamato could form. He was completely absorbed in looking at the different planets, having learned how to work the telescope very quickly.

Taichi took hold of Yamato's arm and pulled the excited blonde from the telescope. "Cold. Aren't you cold? You're not even wearing a jacket!"

"Too bad he's wearing that much," the girl murmured again.

Yamato blushed and looked into the telescope again to avoid her eyes. Taichi laughed quietly and shook his head at her amusedly. With a sigh, Yamato went back to the topic. "I guess I'm cold. I haven't thought about it much."

"Here." Taichi pulled the blanket that he had wrapped about his shoulders, shivering a bit at the cold even though he had his long coat on, and re-wrapped it around Yamato's body, making sure his friend was tucked tightly in the blanket.

"Do you lot do this every time?" Yamato asked once he was comfortable and looking through the telescope again.

Taichi pushed his chair closer to Yamato's, needing the warmth, and sat back to stare at the dark sky. "No, we do all kinds of things. Actually sometimes we just come out here and sit under the stars to talk."

A sound of a throat being cleared behind Taichi made him jump. The girl, too, startled, but Yamato was engrossed with staring through the telescope. They looked back to see the professor standing with a disapproving frown in Yamato's direction. Taichi smiled sheepishly and the girl had a mischievous grin. The professor turned his eyes upon Taichi and raised an eyebrow. "Who is this?"

"Ishida Yamato," Taichi said quietly. "He kind of… showed up… just now…"

Another careful scan was done of Yamato. "Is this the one you say wrecks your apartment?"

"Yes…"

The girl suddenly sat up in her chair, the grin having not left. "You know, like I said before, he can spend the night at my apartment anytime, Tai. I wouldn't mind at all."

Despite that he was supposed to be professional, the professor smiled a bit. He shook his head at her and went back to Taichi. "Okay, Tai, I don't mind him being here, but make sure he doesn't break anything. I don't want to have to explain to my boss why a student's friend was touching a telescope when he was not in my class."

"Yamato's crazy, but he wont break anything," Taichi assured him quickly.

"We hope," Yamato said quietly. The other three looked at him, and he barely glanced at Taichi with a smirk.

"Ah ha! You were listening! I knew it!" the girl exclaimed. She fell into another evil grin. "Sexy and sneaky; just the way I like 'em."

Yamato quickly looked the other way, blushing furiously.

"Yorika, why don't you come with me?" the professor suggested. Yorika flashed Yamato another smile and got up to follow the professor, stopping only to lean over and whisper something in Taichi's ear.

Taichi and Yamato sat quietly, with Yamato staring through the telescope and Taichi watching him calmly, attentively. As much as he hated to admit it, Taichi found his friend absolutely captivating, a person that people flocked around, hoping that they just might be noticed. Yet Taichi was already noticed and now he didn't know which level he stood on with Yamato. He had to admit… Yamato was rather attractive for a moody blonde…

"So, you tell your class about me?" Yamato asked, his voice making Taichi jump. He smiled to himself, knowing that Taichi had been staring at him. He couldn't help feeling an intense joy over playing with someone's mind, and because of that he also felt sadistic. 

"Well," Taichi looked about the area at the six other people taking the class, "Yeah. I do. We tell each other a lot. We discuss everyone's problems and tell funny stories. We're good friends."

"I imagine." Yamato moved back from the telescope to give Taichi a kind smile. "What exactly do you say about me?"

"That you're crazy."

Yamato playfully pushed him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Taichi kidded and caught his hand before he could draw it back. He idly began to play with Yamato's fingers.

"Do you suppose they'd let me switch to this class? It wouldn't mess up my schedule really, and they're both astronomy, so the professors could just transfer grades," Yamato asked.

Taichi moved so that he was sitting half on the edge of his chair and half on the edge of Yamato's. "I'm sure they could do that…"

"It would give me something to do every other night, you know?"

Now he moved to gradually slip one arm around Yamato's waist, still holding his hand. "Yeah…"

"Do you think it would work?" Yamato was completely oblivious to Taichi's moving, his mind set on getting in the night class. He was enjoying looking at the stars.

Taichi didn't answer. Instead he leaned in and kissed Yamato, pressing him back into the chair. Yamato squeaked but otherwise didn't move, his mind suddenly reeling from the beautiful stars to how close Taichi was to him. Taichi rubbed his thumb gently on the back of Yamato's hand, comfortingly almost. Slowly, but surely, Yamato started to relax…

"Hey! No sex in the lawn chairs!"

The voice made Taichi jerk away from Yamato to give whoever had yelled a very dirty glare. The other six people started laughing and the professor cracked yet another smile. Yamato's back was to them all, but he felt a wave of horror spread through his body, and as Taichi went to move close again, he hastily ducked away. Confusion swept across Taichi's face, but he quickly got the hint and let go of Yamato's hand, leaning back.

"Yama?" he asked softly, the hurt entirely evident in the wounded tone he used.

"I need to get back to the apartment, Taichi," Yamato said awkwardly, and hopped out of the chair, tossing the blanket away from him. He didn't even bother to glance back as he rushed to the car.

Taichi slumped into the chair, suddenly feeling very depressed.

--

Mr. Ishida hated being woken in the middle of the night. He thought he'd never have to suffer again since Yamato left, but apparently that wasn't the case. The neighbors couldn't be complaining about noise again, since his little rock star was gone, and the dog was in its pen – it never barked in its pen. Who could possibly be banging on his door so early in the morning, and what did this person want?

Swinging the door open with a distinctly hateful, "What?" Ishida Masaharu was quite surprised to find his eldest son standing on the doorstep, eyes wide and afraid. Not of the wrath from his father, but… something else. As soon as he saw this expression, Masaharu's anger drifted away and he pulled his beloved first child inside.

"What's wrong, Yamato," he demanded, vaguely thinking in the back of his mind that even with Yamato out of the apartment he was still being woken in the middle of the night. His protective fatherly instincts were stronger than the irked emotions, though, and he led Yamato to the couch. "Come out with it. What's getting to you?"

Yamato blinked, eyes still wide, making him look like a little child again. "Taichi kissed me." He blinked again, and a look of absolute horror suddenly appeared. "He kissed me! Oh, why did I leave?!"

_You thought you'd found a friend_

_To take you out of this place_

_Someone you could lend a hand_

_In return for grace_

*  *  *

Sora pulled on her purple mittens as she stepped into the kitchen. One of her nails caught on a string, making her frown. Her nails had been done only two days before; they couldn't _already_ be breaking! With a disheartened, weak sigh she sat in her usual chair at the table. "Yamato, do you have any fingernails clippers? I seem to have…"

Upon looking up, Sora was surprised to find that the only other person sitting at the table was Kari, who was eating cereal and reading a magazine. This was odd, since Yamato was normally the first person awake and tended to have a warm breakfast on the table for everyone. Sometimes he did leave early for class, but still made pancakes or something warm. The cereal was Taichi's snack in between classes.

Kari noticed Sora's confused expression and dropped her spoon in her bowel. "I know. Isn't it weird? I even checked the oven in case he left muffins in there like last time, but there's nothing. It took me forever to find this cereal. I don't know how old it is, but I'd rather not."

"Where's Taichi?" Sora asked. It was natural for Taichi to wake up later than everyone else, usually Sora and Kari were already gone, him having a midnight class and all, but just in case…

"In his room, asleep, but he's still wearing his clothes from yesterday, and his shoes." Kari was every bit as confused and curious as Sora. She, too, had walked into the kitchen speaking to Yamato and found that she was simply speaking to air.

Sora thought about the situation for a moment, wondering what had gotten into her two boys. Eventually she decided that males were just strange and chose to eat cold cereal with Kari, trying to ignore how stale the little bits tasted. She kept expecting Yamato to walk in at any moment, take their bowels away, and make them something good, yet that never happened. Before long, her cereal was consumed, and the clock neared seven.

"I would wait up for Yamato, but you've got to be at school in five minutes, and a friend is expecting me to meet him at the library half an hour before class," Sora stated with a sigh. Kari nodded and they stood to leave.

As Kari grabbed her books, Sora peeked into Taichi and Yamato's room at the still sleeping figure. Her eyes moved to the clock on the nightstand and she was shocked to find that the alarm was not set. While, in his younger years, Taichi had been a constantly mixed up person, he did try to be organized and act mature. Being late to class was not mature.

Seeing as Sora was female, and often felt like a mother to Taichi, she marched into his room, flipped on the light, and ripped his blankets from the bed. "Yagami Taichi, get your rear end out of that bed! You're going to be late! I understand that you're tired, but you shouldn't sign up for night classes if you can't handle the load!"

Seeing as Taichi was male, and often felt like Sora was his mother, he gave a sleepy whine, shielded his eyes from the bright light that had suddenly appeared in his nightmare, and lazily reached for the covers that were cruelly taken away. "So~ra! I'm in the middle of a crisis! Can't you find someone else to pick on?"

Sora opened her mouth to retort, but when she lifted her hand to point threateningly at Taichi she caught sight of her watch and gave a startled squeak. She spun around to leave, but spun back around just as sharply and narrowed her eyes at Taichi. "I have to go, but I'd better not find out that you were late to class, or no dessert tonight!"

Feeling like she'd accomplished something, Sora marched back out of the room, meeting up with Kari in the hallway, and the two left, leaving the light over Taichi still on. It was cruel, but necessary.

Taichi groaned and rolled onto his back, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He felt grungy in his dirty clothes, and thinking about it reminded him of the night before and the reason he hadn't bothered to take a shower and change. He glanced at Yamato's bed, wondering if the other had returned as well, and wasn't surprised upon seeing that it was empty.

However, he was surprised when an angry Sora came howling back into the apartment.

"Where is my car?" she demanded, hands on hip and eyes threatening death. "I realized I hadn't grabbed my keys, but that was because they weren't where they usually were so it threw me off, but my car isn't even _there_! Where is it?"

By the end of her rant, Sora had moved to the side of the bed and was gripping Taichi by the front of his shirt. In an act to protect what he considered a handsome face, Taichi held up his hands and tried to squirm away. "I don't know! The last time I saw it, Yamato was driving it!"

"Yamato?" Sora was now confused and she let go of Taichi to think. There had been times where Taichi and Yamato often joked that she played favorites with the two of them, and, while they laughed together at those jokes, it was eerily true. Yamato was definitely her 'favored child' and anything he did was okay.

Now her anger was gone and replaced with worry. First Yamato wasn't there to make breakfast, and then he had her car. What had happened to him? She hoped nothing serious. Her eyes drifted back to Taichi staring guiltily at the blankets on the floor. "What did you do?"

Taichi's head snapped up. "What? I didn't do anything!"

"You had to have done something! Yamato's gone, I don't have car, which means that both Kari and I are going to be late!" Sora shouted. It sucked when you weren't the favored child.

"You can use my car," Taichi, in hope to cool Sora down a little, offered.

Sora looked incredulous. "Like I'm going to use that POS car! Now tell me…"

The phone beside the clock on the nightstand rang, cutting off whatever she was about to scream. They both jumped, as did Kari who was standing in the doorway watching – she knew better than to become a part of Sora's rant. The phone rang again, and this time Sora reached for it, answering with a crisp, worried, "Hello?"

Her eyes slid back to Taichi. They narrowed as each second passed, and then she held the phone out to Taichi. "It's for you. Yamato's father."

Taichi shakily took the phone from her, Mr. Ishida's wrath being much scarier. While the reporter often denied being Yamato's father, saying that Nancy must have had an affair, he was very caring father and extremely protective. Mess with his little baby, and you might as well mess with the entire Japanese army. Yamato was the only 'non-mistake' in his life – Takeru having been a surprise, not a mistake, mind you – not that he'd ever admit it out loud.

"Hello?" Taichi asked quietly, already wincing even though Mr. Ishida had not spoken yet.

"Taichi, this is Ishida Masaharu," the other drawled, sounding tired. "I don't normally interfere with other people's relationships, but _your_ relationship just moved _back_ into my apartment and wont stop crying."

Relief waved over Taichi. He wasn't being yelled at after all! "What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know!" Masaharu snapped. "Come over here, declare you love, and take him away! I can't stand it anymore!"

Ah, yes. Back to the denial of fatherly love. And the yelling.

"Uh, so you don't have a problem with… with him and me?" Taichi liked this idea, but Yamato wasn't innately a person to hide feelings. He'd been taught lessons from the master of acting.

"I _couldn't_ care less! Now hurry!" Masaharu shouted into the phone. "I'm leaving in five minutes for work. I expect to see you driving up as I pull out."

With that, the phone was slammed into place, and Taichi shuffled out of bed to get into some clean clothes and over to the Ishida apartment before five minutes was up.

--

Mr. Ishida was glaring, but at least he was in the other car and not slowing down to kill Taichi. Sora was the first to get out of Taichi's car, Kari having been dropped off at school on the way over. She was delighted to see her car, but upset to see that it was muddy. The blame was placed on Taichi, of course, since Yamato could do no wrong.

Taichi wearily dragged himself out of the car and to the elevator. Sora griped at him the entire way to the complex Mr. Ishida lived in, and his ears were ringing. On the way up, however, he started to wonder just what he was going to say to Yamato. And what was Yamato going to say to him? Mr. Ishida made it sound like he might actually have a chance at finally getting the adorable blonde to claim as his own.

The door was unlocked and partially open when Taichi walked up. Sora stayed downstairs with her car, examining it to make sure nothing was wrong with it. Pushing open the door, Taichi stepped inside the apartment and looked around. He glanced into Yamato's old bedroom, which had been turned into an office, and into the bathroom, but no Yamato. The next room was Mr. Ishida's and he decided he'd look everywhere else before venturing into there.

Luckily, he was fortunate to find Yamato sitting on the floor of the kitchen, cutting out shapes from elaborately colored construction paper. All around the kitchen these shapes had been attached to strings and now little stars, circles, squares, and triangles hung from the ceiling. The table also had nice array of cut out animals taped to it, as did the counter and cabinets. The refrigerator and oven were lined with frilly lace – what it was even doing in the Ishida apartment anyway kind of worried Taichi.

Yamato stopped his cutting to look at Taichi standing in the doorway. His eyes immediately started to fill with tears and he whispered quietly, "I'm sorry."

Seeing that the object of his adoration was having some sort of break down, Taichi quickly slipped to the floor and pulled Yamato into his arms. "Sorry? Why are you sorry? Don't be sorry, Yama-chan."

"I'm sorry I left last night," Yamato replied even softer.

"It doesn't matter. Forget it. You're here now and that's all that counts for me." Taichi hugged Yamato tighter. "I really like you, Yama-chan."

"You're not mad at me?"

The tone of voice, that child-like manner that Yamato was using, bothered Taichi. It worried him just as much and all he could do was hug Yamato even tighter. "Of course not."

Yamato seemed to relax at that and snuggled closer to Taichi. "Okay."

-

-

Three months, nine sessions with a psychiatrist, about eight different medications, two incidents involving a disappearing Yamato and Sora's car, five mornings of waking up to find whipped cream all over the kitchen, four nights of waking up Mr. Ishida at midnight, a bad sunburn, a broken leg, a lost pair of swim shorts, and many intimate experiences later, Taichi finally felt he'd tamed the wild Ishida Yamato – who, by day, was as normal as everyone else, even acted cool and calm, but by night was a whole other person.

Life is fun.

_It's a beautiful day_

_Sky falls, you feel like_

_It's a beautiful day_

Don't let it get away 

THE END!!

Yes, I know that ending really bites, but hey – this wasn't supposed to have a fancy ending! Just plain and common and silly. Please review!


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